Succession
by Corbin Slate
Summary: Rowdy becomes the trail boss, Death Fic


Author: Corbin

Title: Succession

Rating: PG-13 **_*Warning Death Fic*_**

Disclaimer: This is a fan fiction, I'm poor, haven't won the power ball yet (now I can't win 'till next month, darn havin' to be 21 to throw your money away on a one dollar lotto.) Yeah, suing me would be more work then reward.

Summary: Rowdy becomes the trail boss. Companion to "What might have been". Same events seen through Rowdy's POV.

**My thanks to Grey for helping me out again**

As I look back on my years as a drover under Mr. Favor's guidance I find now that one instance that really sticks in my mind was the night I became a trail boss myself. I had always wondered how I was going to feel when I became the leader of the herd. I wish that the circumstances would have been different, but nothing will change what happened now.

That day had been particularly exhausting. I felt like I was ready to drop were I stood. _It was going to be nice to sleep_, that was all that I could think about. Something jarred me from my sleep. It felt like I had just closed my eyes, but I knew it had been several hours. I mumbled something about it being time for me to get up anyway and then I recognized the sounds that had brought me out of my already fading dreams. The sound of thundering hooves, more directly the sound of a stampede.

What had caused the stampede I'll probably never know, not that it would make any difference to me now. Before I was even aware enough to realize I could think I was heading for the remuda. My saddle lie at the head of my bedroll, I jumped onto my horse ready to ride bareback.

My horse danced anxiously underneath of me as he awaited my commands. I gripped the reins in a tight fist and spurred my mount in the direction of the boss's voice. My eyes strained to see in the swirling dust and darkness of early dawn. From my vantage point on the back of my horse I could see that the crew was winding the herd into a nice mill. Very soon the danger of the stampede would have passed us all by, but not on that night.

I caught sight of Mr. Favor in the thick of the still panicked portion of the mob of cattle. Dirt clouded my vision as I paced my horse on the outskirts of the herd looking for a safe entry point. I shuddered as a shrill cry pierced the air, when I recovered I searched for the source of the sound that still echoes in my ears. It was a horse, in a great deal of pain. Moments later I realized it was **_his _**horse. The boss fought to keep the animal on its feet, but it was badly injured and they were going down.

My horse flinched slightly as I spurred him much harder then necessary toward the place I had seen the boss last. By the time I was able to weave my way through the remaining cattle and reach the boss the cattle had nearly passed us by. I guided my horse to the place where I could see the boss's horse clearly. Neither the man nor the mount moved, at that moment I took them both for dead.

A high-pitched whinny rang in my ears; the boss's horse was fighting to get to its feet. I winced as I got a better look at the crippled mount. Mr. Favor's horse lie on its right side. The legs of the horse that were near the ground appeared uninjured. The animal's left side had been severely damaged. The left foreleg was broken at the knee and as the animal dug it's hooves into the dirt trying to stand the leg twisted unnaturally. The back leg was gored clear through to the hipbone by one of our more dangerous steers. The latter injury was bleeding profusely and within a few minutes the horse would bleed to death. 

I recall at the time I almost wanted to ride away. I didn't want to see this.

Mr. Favor was pinned beneath his mount. His left leg was still in the proper position in the stirrup, his hip had been twisted free from the socket and he lie on his back in the dirt, beneath that horse. 

I swallowed hard and gathered a little of what was left of my gumption and dared to walk around to be certain that he was indeed finished. I was surprised and a little relieved to see the reins clenched tightly in his fists as he fought his mount's efforts to stand. The horse struggled fiercely once more as I approached a little closer and the boss cried out in agony.

"Hold still you damn horse!" Mr. Favor's voice was low and filled with pain that he was trying to ignore, at that moment I wished that I had a twitch to calm his horse. I knelt near the animal's head and covered its eyes with my bandana, it settled down a little. I moved closer to Mr. Favor, he grimaced. I tried not to look at his awkwardly positioned left leg; hopefully it looked worse than it felt.

"You're alive," His chest heaved as I whispered in a shaky voice.

"Is the herd under control?" He asked me trying to concentrate on something other than the pain coursing through his body. I nodded finding that I was unable to speak, the crew was gathering the stragglers as he spoke. The horse thrashed about again causing the boss to grit his teeth. His death grip on his horse's reins was starting to slip. Mr. Favor's hands trembled slightly from the effort of holding the horse down. 

I had had enough of that. My hand reached for my revolver and before the boss could utter the command to proceed or a word of protest I had pulled the trigger. I heard my own horse snort and whinny in protest of my gunfire. Mr. Favor's grip on the horse's reins relaxed and the horse dropped its head to the dirt without another breath.

I put my weapon back into the holster and moved around behind Mr. Favor. At that moment all I wanted was to pull him out from under that dead horse and get him back to camp where Wishbone could fix him up with bandages, warm Dutch oven biscuits and coffee. 

The yell of protest barely penetrated my concentration as I gripped my boss under the shoulders and prepared to heave to. It hit me that the boss was screaming for me to back off. He didn't want my help, immediately I eased him back down onto the ground.

"Rowdy, please don't try to move me. I don't think I can stand to be moved," He had gentled his voice, he knew that I only wanted to help him. Mr. Favor closed his eyes and swallowed painfully.

"But Boss, I can't just leave you here under that horse. We've got to get back to camp where I can get you help," My voice was desperate; I needed him to let me help him. He didn't seem to feel my sense of urgency, or maybe he was just ignoring it.

"I don't think I can be helped," I felt my stomach wrench as I listened to his words. 

He had already given up, he couldn't do that, _and I wasn't going to allow it_. He was supposed to be unbreakable, invincible. Things like this were supposed to pass him by; at least that's how I felt at the time. Nothing was supposed to affect him. But, there he was, in the dirt pinned under what had been his favorite horse struggling to breathe.

I watched helplessly as he looked passed me in an unfocused gaze at the horizon. 

"Rowdy, keep the drive going." 

The Boss went into a fit of violent coughing. I heard a sickening gurgling sound and he brought up a small puddle of blood. He relaxed a little and the coughing ceased. _Why did he always have to be right? Why couldn't he have been wrong about this? Just this one time, it wasn't too much to ask of him._

Carefully I placed my hand on his shoulder, he gripped my fingers as tightly as he could. 

"Don't let this keep you from finishing the drive. A good trail boss will finish a drive come hell or high water." The words "trail boss" made me shudder as they struggled from his mouth. I wasn't ready to fill his boots. I didn't want to become a trail boss this way. 

Mr. Favor struggled to focus on me again; I knew this was draining him fast. I tried to quiet him, but he wouldn't have it. 

"I know…I know this isn't how you wanted this to be, but please just keep going. I'm asking you…as your friend."

"Don't worry, we'll finish the drive," I nearly choked on the words as I spoke to him.

I gave him a forced encouraging smile even though I knew he could see right through me to all of my uncertainty. He squeezed my hand and returned the smile. Agony ripped through me as I watched his face contort with a final spurt of violent pain.

Moments later his body had relaxed and he let go of my hand. I know that I shouldn't have felt relieved, but I was. I was glad that he wasn't suffering anymore. A feeling of disbelief coursed through me and I stood stumbling backward from the remains of my friend. My entire body trembled with emotion from the ordeal, he was really gone. I wanted to hear his words of advice so I could ignore them, I wanted to have him chide me, and I wanted to hear his words of frustration and anger directed at me. Right then I longed for his reassurance that tomorrow would be a better day, but I only found emptiness.

I could hear voices in the distance, the sound of hooves followed shortly after. Someone in the distance was shouting something at me, but I wasn't listening. Pete was there now dismounting and running to my side. He spoke to me and at first I didn't respond. 

"Rowdy, what happened?" Pete shook me by the shoulders, trying to bring me back to reality. I looked at him and then knelt back beside the boss.

"I need a shovel," I said never looking back up at Pete. Things were never going to be the same on the trail for me again. 

__

The End.


End file.
